It was always a fantasy, but Fine Gael for decades saw itself as the law and order party. Last week, in desperately trying to make the whistleblower scandal go away, the party was busy destroying what remains of its credibility.

Fianna Fail is split on the scandal. Officially, it seeks to help its government partner in hushing the matter up; yet, one of the best speeches on the scandal was made by a veteran Fianna Fail TD, John McGuinness.

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